Kakera
by Pudding Earl
Summary: Semi-AU. Primo finds his curiosity aroused in a way that it never had been before by his Decimo, Sawada Tsunayoshi, and as change comes over him, Primo finds himself dealing with more than just an unhealthy curiosity for his descendant, but a growing problem that could collapse the Vongola that he had created in itself. G27, 1827, AG.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Mhm. Your average Pudding-esque fanfic. I start them and I get a new idea before I finish 'em - Helium is still on my mind. I just don't know if I want to continue that fic, so... this is my new distraction. 1827 or G27, guys?

- x -

KAKERA

**CHAPTER ONE**

_It's time, Primo._

His eyes flickered open in the darkness. The familiar feeling of the void welcomed him- the void beyond the reaches of passing time and its effects. There had only been a handful of times in which he, Vongola Primo, had been called on in that way. But there was always one consistent reason for his calling- the succession ceremony. Certainly this was the reason for his calling- he hadn't sensed by danger to the Vongola ring as of late, anyhow. And the current boss's time was nearly up, as well- Primo had enough experience to guess at the reason this time.

His eyes closed, eyelids covering irises in the color of the sunset as it began.

- x -

"You fucking asshole! Let Juudaime out!"

Hibari didn't pay the angry guardian any attention. Gokudera had always been a hot-headed idiot when it came to his supposed "boss", but apparently he had forgotten just how much of an idiot he was in the past- or how dirty of a mouth he had. Hibari had an urge to stuff a bar of soap down the silver-haired man's throat at times like this.

His indifference wasn't about to earn him any points from Gokudera, who wanted nothing more to rush at the man and knock him out cold with a punch. "Are you even listening to me, you bastard?"

This time Hibari tilted his head back to give the storm guardian a glare. "Why?"

The single-word question enraged Gokudera even more. "What kind of stupid question is that? 'Why'? Honestly- Juudaime's going to fucking die in there if you don't let him out!"

Hibari gave an amused look as a smirk tugged at his lips. "So? The weak can die. Only the strong can survive." Honestly speaking, Tsunayoshi had been nothing less of a disappointment for him. His flames were weak, and his techniques were weak and predictable. In this sort of world where the Millefiore swarming everywhere, Tsunayoshi was not going to survive if he couldn't pick things up. Hibari would help with that, and this was going to be the first step. Reborn had muttered something about an inheritance test earlier (not that it mattered much to Hibari). Test? Of course. Hibari was not going to hold back.

Still, if the herbivore died here... that would be most troublesome.

- x -

"Hah..."

Precious oxygen filtered in through Tsuna's nose again, and now there was less and less of it around. He could feel the heat from his gloves receding as he tried to break from the prison that Hibari had built for him. Not being able to breathe was a horrible feeling. No, this feeling was even worse than the countless times Xanxus slammed him into buildings and such. It was even worse than the helpless feeling he had felt when Mukuro had been possessing their bodies. This was the feeling of impending, tightening death around his lungs. He was going to be in serious trouble if he didn't get any air soon. Were Hibari's flames really this... solid and impenetrable?

"Herbivore." At least sound was able to penetrate into the dark enclosure, though that was of little relief to Tsuna. Great. This Hibari from the future was nothing short of a demon. Despite his light-head and racing thoughts, Tsuna wondered how his future self dealt with such a person. Then again, he was definitely much stronger in ten years' time and could defend himself from such a monster! "You will die if you don't break out soon."

'_Like I need you to tell me that!' _Tsuna thought to himself as he pressed his gloved hand onto the inside of the enclosure again, willing flames to surge onto the surface again. A new burst of flames appeared, though they weren't enough. The moment Tsuna melted away a layer of cloud flames, it would repair itself almost immediately. '_Propagation...'_ This was bad. Bad. Bad. If Tsuna didn't find a way out, Hibari would really be dragging out a body later on. There was only a little bit of the cloud flames that was continuously being burned out, but it was only near his ring and wouldn't be enough.

His head swam, and before he knew it, his mop of brown hair hit the floor hard, knocking him out completely.

- x -

Red. It was everywhere.

It tainted the floor, gathering in huge puddles near bodies. The smell of death hung on everything, and Tsuna could feel it hanging on him as well. At first, it was confusion. What was this? Then, as his vision expanded, it was horror. Red tainted the once pristine-white tablecloth, the rich wooden furniture, and swam in what may had been a delicious soup. It replaced butter on the bread that had been scattered over the room, splattered on the food that had been upturned during what appeared to be a fight. It hung on the chandelier above, dripping down on the bodies below occasionally. Tsuna's eyes were cast down on his gloved hands, which were stained with blood. If it wasn't for the fact that he was freaking out, he would have noticed that they weren't his gloves at all.

And then everything changed.

A blazing fire. Everything seemed to be crumbling down for some reason, though this time Tsuna was watching from afar. Wood lighted immediately upon contact, and Tsuna watched as the fire spread like a disease before enveloping the entire building. And as it did so, Tsuna heard something other than crumbling wood and stone. Screams. Human screams. At first he thought that it was his imagination, but then they got louder. And louder. And louder.

"Save me!"

"My child! My wife! My family...!"

"Save... save me!"

Tsuna's hands came over his ears. The fluffy white material of his mittens was hardly enough to cut the noise out. Even as he tried, the screams came louder, cutting through his ears like a knife through hot butter. It left the same sticky, icky wound behind. Tears streaked down his face despite himself, and his throat was dry from yelling. "STOP IT!" More yells of protest and streaks of blood came as his answer. The scenes were shifting quickly now, and the emotions they brought on in him escalated out of control now. Flashes of light, horror, and violence passed by Tsuna's eyes as the images burned onto the back of Tsuna's skull. He was reduced to a quivering mess, wrapped up in a fetal position on the floor as the tears streamed from his cheek and dropped onto the floor "STOP IT!" Tsuna yelled again, his voice breaking from his sobs. Why was everything so horrible? Everything came back to him with renewed vigor, as if challenging his words.

"_This is the fate of the successor to the Vongola."_

Tsuna's eyes opened wide. That voice- who was it? He didn't recognize it at all, and yet... the words pulled at something inside him, long forgotten and compressed below in a deep part of himself that he had never been able to let free on his own. Now he pushed it down before it could flare up again, but it was like the spark to a flame as it caught fire inside, spreading like an uncontrolled wildfire.

Why? Why was this happening to him? Why was the Vongola like _this?_ More specifically...

"Why me?" Tsuna's voice cut through the screams of agony, and he willed it to reach the voice that he had heard earlier. Was that voice the cause of all of this? The yells and screams of agony didn't cease, thought that only succeeded in enraging Tsuna even further. Why were these people getting killed? Was death always the first sort of punishment in the mafia world? Tsuna wasn't ready to face it. Even if that was the truth... he wasn't willing to accept it. If it was indeed what was going on... he would have to do everything in his power to stop it. He was only one person, yes. But if he worked enough- if he tried hard enough, perhaps- something could be done about it. It was a hopeless case, really, but Tsuna didn't want to sit by and do nothing. Life was precious.

"I won't!" His voice broke free through the chaos and confines of his own mind as he looked up. His tears blinded and blurred nearly everything. Was someone there? It didn't matter anymore- he had to free himself. "I-If that's the truth, then... I'll destroy it!" Tsuna all but screamed at the top of his lungs. That voice... that voice. What was it? Was it the enemy here? Tsuna's thoughts were so muddled now- it was hard to tell anything apart.

"I'll destroy the Vongola!"

- x -

He felt the surge of flames- the mass of concentrated flames and energy. These were much more powerful than the last time he had felt the foreign flames surge in this sacred spiritual realm, though this time the flames seemed to be more of a wild, unharnessed power, of hidden potential that had yet to be expressed fully. This was a wild mustang that needed grooming, training, and most of all, a breaking-in. Primo would be able to successfully do the painful last one... or break this mustang in the process.

For him, the second was not an option.

Primo's eyes closed, and a bright orange flame appeared on his head as he opened up his mind to the void. The void... the void that was now a little bit more. The flow of emotions, thoughts, and onslaught of memories caught up with him, flashing through his mind as if everything had just happened yesterday. Memories that were his and the few select others whom had felt these same emotions, feelings, and, most of all, the pain. The memories that recorded the history of the Vongola, to be specific. Hallucinations were going to start, of course, and then the pain would start settling in with the past. Primo didn't hold back. He had never had a reason to do so before, and although this time the flames felt somewhat new- young and inexperienced for sure, he was in no position to make exceptions. The boss of the Vongola had to be perfect and flawless in every way, or the hard work that had been built up for the past four hundred years would all be gone- not only because of the new Decimo, but because of the arrogance of Primo. He was not about to let that happen.

As the images filtered through, however, Primo's flames started licking at his blonde strands in a way that had him hesitating more than he should have. _'There's something wrong?'_ He frowned, then dismissed the outrageous idea a minute later. No. That was impossible. How could something go wrong _now?_ Potential bosses before this had either fought against the memories, blocking them out until Primo disqualified them and rejected their blood, or accepting them. This... this time, it was something else, though Primo had no idea what. The flames from the potential Decimo were too suppressed and weak to tell. Primo only squeezed his eyes shut, fighting to keep his few happy memories from mixing into the bloody ones he was now feeding into the spiritual void. There were so few glimpses but the feelings and emotions from them were quite vivid, as well.

"Ne, Primo, why don't we take a break?"

"Nufufu... I doubt that crazy boss of ours takes breaks."

"Boss! Let's head to the beach!"

"You're all crazy! You know Primo's drowning in paperwork!"

"Maa, maa, more the reason for us to make excuse, right?"

The voice he was waiting for never came, however, because a moment later, Primo felt a consciousness meet his and nearly gasped. His flames surged inside and streaked out on his forehead. His hyper intuition confirmed what he had already knew.

It was a child. His figure was crumpled on the ground in front of Primo, wrapped up in a fetal position on the floor. Wild brown locks hid most of his face, and white woolen mittens covered the boy's hands. '_Where is his weapon?'_ Or... did he even have one? Primo shook off the idea. No, this potential Decimo was nowhere close to Segundo. There was no way that he would be weaponless- but those ridiculous mittens couldn't possibly be of any defense, let along offense. But something else had distracted the blonde from this, and he didn't dwell on the matter. Primo heard the sound of sobbing- sobbing that didn't come from his own mind for once. His flames were all but put out by now as the guilt, helplessness, and despair settled upon him. Primo could only watch in shock. It was a child? He was the candidate chosen? How? Denial made its way to Primo's thoughts before being swiftly replaced by disbelief. So Nono had chosen a child. A mere child for the task. What had they been_ thinking?_ This one couldn't possibly be more than fifteen.

"STOP IT!" A surge of flames suddenly awakened within the small body. "STOP IT!"

Primo could only take a step back before closing his eyes to calm himself again. He had already went this far. It was time to tell the kid what he was in for, at least... he couldn't go easy. Not even on a child, though he was pretty sure that he'd regret it later. "This is the fate of the successor to the Vongola."

There was a deadly moment of silence. A moment of contemplation, of a choice to be taken. Primo expected things to go in the negative, of course. He was so young. So different from the others that had been here before. This was no bloodthirsty man, no battle-hungry or vengeful bastard. This wasn't one who wanted power for himself. Fifteen years- that was nothing. This child was best out of the mafia world entirely. He readied his mind to reject the blood of his descendant, but just as he did so, a determined yell sounded out in his ears.

"I won't!"

Shocked, Primo's eyelids lifted of their own accord and met the large brown eyes looking up at him and overflowing with tears. That expression said everything, and Primo felt his heart clench in a way that it hadn't done in ages.

"I-If that's the truth, then... I'll destroy it! I'll destroy the Vongola!"

Primo's intuition flared. Resolve. That was what he was testing for, and now the kid's determination was only too obvious. But did he really want to drag this child out into the mafia world? Darkened images swirled in Primo's head at the very mention of that. He couldn't say. He was Primo, the first sky boss. He was supposed to be wise and to help future generations. If this child was chosen, then he was competent enough to have at least made it to this stage. There was no reason to fail him.

"Your resolve... has been accepted."

The words left a sour, guilty taste in Primo's mouth. For once, he didn't know if he was doing the right thing anymore as he accepted before pushing Decimo's consciousness out.

There was now a lot to think about.

- x -

A/N: For those of you who know the succession chapter well, you would have noticed that I changed a number of things there. It was hard to get detailed and now change stuff, lol. WHY MUST I HAVE SUCH A STUPIDLY DETAILED WRITING STYLE. I HATE IT D8

So a lot of things probably made no sense whatsoever, especially when it was from Giotto's point of view.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: All chapters un-beta'ed, I know typos are lurking. If you find any, please tell me so I can fix them ASAP. I'm glad you all liked the first chapter. I will keep working hard. Second part of the modified G27 succession chapter is here. I added parts in Italian using Google Translate because I don't know the language personally. If you know Italian, I am sorry for raping your language. Feel free to correct me if necessary. Translations are at the end of the chapter.

Technical notes aside, I think I made Tsuna sound a little obsessed over Giotto...

I'm sorry if I'm not great at the pairings thing. Please bear with me and my horrid style. I noticed that I wrote more dialogue in here than originally meant. And hell this is a long author's note.

- x -

KAKERA

**CHAPTER 2**

_ "Your resolve... has been accepted."_

The words brought a wave of confusion over Tsuna as his tears slowly slid out of his eyes, vision clearing as the blurriness slipped away. At first his gaze was set on the floor, but then... was that a pair of shoes? Some hallucination this was turning out to be. His gaze travelled up swiftly, from the leather dress shoes to the black dress pants that blended in with the pitch-darkness. It seemed like mafia-esque clothing indeed. But it was when Tsuna saw the man's face that he gasped.

The man appeared to be in his mid-twenties. Tsuna noticed the familiar orange sky flame that was licking at the messy blonde hair. A black cape of sorts graced his shoulders, and golden chains that corresponded to the color of the man's hair. Tsuna felt something stir in him at the sight of the man. Was it just him, or... was there something that looked _familiar_ about him? Tsuna wanted to laugh if it wasn't for the fact that he was a melting pot of emotions and confusion at the moment. There was no way. This guy was nowhere close to anyone Tsuna had ever seen before. The air about him and the way the man seemed to carry himself was indescribably dignified and calm. And then, Tsuna realized how pathetic he must have looked in front of such a man, with his tears streaming down his face and his nose running. Giving a slight hiccup, Tsuna quickly used his mittens to wipe away the tears at his eyes before looking up again and giving a small gasp of surprise as he noticed the color of the man's eyes. Was this man somehow also...

Tsuna was having a hard time telling what was real and what wasn't.

"W-What is this?" The question slipped from his lips before he could stop himself. Swallowing nervously, he looked up at the blonde man again, confusion mixed with fear written into his brown irises. "I-Is this a dream?" Then again, if this was a dream... where had those strange visions came from? Tsuna had never had any dreams close to what he had just seen (though that one dream he had gotten before Hibari's fight with Gola Mosca for the Cloud Ring had been quite terrifying in a... different way). If this wasn't a dream, then- "An illusion?" Was this man an illusionist? The thought only had Tsuna sprawling back in an attempt to get away. Chrome was nice enough, but Mukuro had mentally scarred his image of illusionists!

_ "E'la nostra ora incisa sull'anello." _The words, gentle like water, flowed from the man's lips, and Tsuna felt something stir in him. That feeling- was it his hyper intuition? Though the language was unfamiliar, understanding of the words dawned in Tsuna's heart.

"Hour... time?"

_"Il tempo scorre. Il passato è il presente. Il presente è il futuro. E il futuro è il passato. Tutto è come uno."_ A smile graced the blonde man's features for a moment- or had Tsuna imagined it? "_Per fiorire o morire, spetta a voi adesso, Vongola Decimo." _Tsuna was entranced by the voice. Was there more preciseness and elegance that this person could put into his words? He wanted to hear more. Hear more from those lips, to hear the silky voice bring forth the foreign words that resembled satin slipping by his ears. Who was this person? Yes, that was the core question here. Who was this?

_"Ho aspettato per voi, il mio cielo."_

And suddenly, from the darkness, there came light, heat, and... flames. Tsuna's eyes were blinded at first, and then, as his eyes adjusted, everything came together, the puzzle pieces locking in together in his mind as a flame caught on his head and began burning furiously as it had never done before. Wisps of white dashed from his mittens before yarn was replaced by leather and metal, and then Tsuna felt himself being accelerated forward as he never had before.

_"This is the proof of your inheritance."_

- x -

_Ba-dump. _

Gokudera could feel his heart pounding in his chest, running off of anxiety and desperation. It had been nearly fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes of horror, that was. His precious Juudaime's life was being put on the line, and it was all because of this one bastard. He continued to glare at the dark-haired cloud guardian, who was idly watching Hibird fly around. Gokudera's hate for the man was increasing exponentially by the second. Who the hell did the man think he was? Juudaime was fucking going to die at any moment, and he was just standing there playing with a pet bird! He had already taken the first step towards the older man when a pair of strong arms held him back. Growling in annoyance, he was cut off when a calm but firm voice stopped him. "Hayato, stop."

"Let go of me dammit!" Gokudera yelled, struggling in vain as the swordsman held him back. Hibari only looked on in amusement, crossing his arms as a smirk curved at his lips. Of course, the storm guardian was as amusing as ever- just as long as he was being contained, of course. Hibari thought back to those meetings in the earlier days. Yes, those days, it had been so easy for the hot-headed Gokudera to get into arguments or even fights with the other guardians, particularly with him or Mukuro. Of course, Hibari understood why Gokudera wouldn't get along with the pineapple-haired bastard, but still. Sometimes they would get to a point where Tsuna would finally intervene and push the two offenders apart. Hibari's gaze softened as his thoughts went to the short brunette. There were many things that came to mind when the name Sawada Tsunayoshi was mentioned. Silly. Clumsy. Overworked. Cheerful. Selfless. Beautiful. Weak. Strong.

He closed his eyes. He had never been the verbal type of person. Words seemed so insignificant to him, so he had found little occasion to use them. Hibari Kyouya was the last person who put his emotions on the tip of his tongue for others to easily listen to. That didn't mean he didn't have emotions, however- the two were not to be confused, though many who didn't understand him took it that way. People like Gokudera, for example. Thankfully, Hibari wasn't in much of a mood to deal with the raging storm guardian at this particular time. And besides...

_Fssshhhh..._

Hibari felt a tremor through the air, and his gaze went immediately to Roll's Globe of Needle form. Were those... cracks in its surface? A frown made its way onto his face. Gokudera ceased his struggling to eye the box weapon form as well. Was this what he thought this was going to be? Was that the working of his boss, or was the cloud bastard just going to reveal his Juudaime's immobile body? Gokudera's heart clenched at the thought. No, no. Surely Tsuna would come through.

Crack.

With a loud explosion and the sound of air hissing to the vacuum inside, it was broken. Yamamoto gasped rather uncharacteristically, and Reborn gave a smug smile from the side as Gokudera squinted in an attempt to see through the thickening cloud of dust. "What the hell? The fuck happened?"

"The Globe of Needle form has been destroyed." Hibari said calmly, wind and dust flying past him. Darkness surrounded the destroyed box weapon, enveloping the entire area. The cloud guardian took a step forward. Was this what he imagined this would be? Despite the growing darkness, however, it wasn't entirely pitch-black. In fact, if he looked hard enough...

Two spheres of light. They flickered and wavered, causing Hibari some alarm before he slowly realized what they were. And then, they shone. The light grew stronger, ever stronger, reaching a fever pitch before exploding in a burst of powerful new flames that chased the darkness and dust to the far edges of the training room. A lone figure stood there, chocolate-brown hair still in the same messy locks, which were a bit messier than usual this time. His eyes were closed, and he was bent over slightly so that his face was barely visible.

And then, the roll of tension broke.

Tsuna's eyelids flipped open, revealing orange irises in the hues of the sunrise. White mittens flashed as a bright burst of flame appeared on the brunette's forehead as a shock wave rushed at the occupants of the room. Hibari had to use his arm to block the incoming wall of wind, and when he looked up... there was Tsuna, in a way that Hibari had never seen before. A blue light seemed to be emitting from the X-Gloves this time, the pure orange flames flowing from it like water from a spring. Clear. Strong. Beautiful.

It was Tsuna.

"Impressive, Tsuna," the home tutor tutted from his discreet corner of the room. "I didn't think you'd pass."

Gokudera scoffed. "Of course he'd pass. He's Juudaime!"

But the teen in question seemed rather confused by his new ability, something that caused the dark-haired cloud guardian to scoff and smirk in amusement. Of course. This boy wasn't the man of the current time. He certainly didn't know what he was doing... even if he was the Vongola Decimo.

"You are finally starting to resemble the you I know." Hibari said, taking a few steps closer to the flabbergasted teen. "A high purity flame with little contamination would have that color. But there is more." Tsuna lowered his gaze at his new gloves and the flames that were pouring forth from them. Indeed, they were of a slightly different shade than before. Brighter, perhaps... but Tsuna had yet to test these flames out. And the new gloves, too- how? Why? His thoughts darted back to the strange scenario with the blonde man. Was... it _him_?

"No more idling, Tsunayoshi." A cold voice nearly had the small brunette jumping as he turned around to see the older version of his cloud guardian walk towards him, ring aflame and ready to insert into his box weapon. Tsuna wondered if he was joking. Training right away? Was he a demon or what? "I am free to do what I will... is that correct, baby?" Reborn nodded his consent from the sidelines, though the look he had on his face sent a shiver down Tsuna's spine. That usually didn't bode much good for him, now did it?

"Very well..." A flash of purple flames later, Hibari had his handy cloud tonfas in his hands, the shattered pieces of his ring hitting the floor as he spoke. "Let's begin." Tsuna winced as his hyper intuition flared inside him. Was it just his emotions acting up, or was there a killing aura coming from the cloud guardian? An aura that couldn't even come close to rivalling his old self, actually- and that was saying quite a bit. Tsuna shivered a bit despite himself. "There are no rules. Defeat me or die."

Tsuna glanced over at Hibari before giving him a determined glare. "I will defeat you." That sounded impossible, as a little over half an hour earlier, Hibari had been happily digging his tonfas into his side, but... Tsuna eyed his new gloves and the flames warily. He had something new, now. If only he could grasp on it a little more.

"Come and get it."

- x -

Primo felt the ebbs of power disappear from around him as the heat faded away, leaving him in the cold darkness once more. It was over. He had done what he needed to do. Still, his work wasn't done. No, it was far from done. Now that there was this new Decimo, he had someone to watch over, to teach and to guide. Primo had never liked the job much, but it was his duty. And this time, the burden of the task weighed upon him even more. A child. A boss that was barely out of the boundaries of his childhood. Powerful as he was, if the power wasn't in the right places, everything would be screwed over. Primo was starting to doubt himself. Had he made the right choice?

Only the empty void was there to answer his unspoken question.

The only light came from his ring. Sighing, Primo allowed the ring to expand its light so he could better see what was going on. Now that he had officially deemed Decimo worthy, he could actually observe him. Now that he had a better idea of what was going on, he could perhaps better assist Decimo and his mental training as a mafia boss. Primo squinted as his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the light before sounds flowed in as well. Such was the convenience.

_"Juudaime disappeared!" _And so it appeared so. There was nothing but a bright streak of flames where the young boss had been only a split second before. The silver-haired man gasped. Where had his Juudaime gone? He had been there no less than a second earlier, but then-

Hibari caught on before anyone else, and lept into the air, air whistling by his ears. If he judged his correctly-

_Thump._

Primo watched as Decimo was thrown off-course, the flames sending him off into a wall, which he crashed into a moment later. No, no. The gloves were supposed to help him. That man- who was he? Primo leaned in a little closer. This was an interesting sort of training, he had to admit, though quite dangerous as well. The dark-haired man didn't seem to be heavily armed, but there was a frighteningly familiar sense of familiarity about him. Primo couldn't quite place his finger on it, but...

Tsuna was quick to get back onto his feet, however. Hibari always meant business, even if... even if- _'No! Concentrate!'_ Squeezing his eyes shut, he opened them a moment later to set his gaze on Hibari again. There were so many mixed emotions whenever he set eyes on the man. But there was training to do. He had to block out his emotions before he let them take over. This was it. If he didn't make this one, then-

A new surge of flame blasted from his gloves as he felt his body rocketing forwards towards Hibari. This was it. This thrust from the gloves were new, but perhaps this raw energy would be enough to hit the dark-haired man in a surprising way and perhaps get him. But even as Tsuna rushed forward, those annoying emotions started hitting him again, breaking his concentration even more than ever.

_"H-Hibari-san!"_

_ "... get away from me, herbivore. You're useless."_

Something choked him, and before he knew what was going on, Hibari had once again countered his attack and had him out of control and then sprawling into the wall with a loud crash. Tears stung at the back of his eyes as he struggled to get up, but it was too late. A split second later, a metal tonfa crashed into his face, sending Tsuna in the dark abyss of unconsciousness as Primo watched on.

- x -

He hadn't meant to. Of course he hadn't meant to. But it had happened despite everything.

Hibari just stared dully at Tsuna's immobile figure lying on the bed in front of him. It took great concentration for him to keep his expression looking the way it normally did and not let any of his annoying emotions come through. Nearby, Bianchi was busy tending to Tsuna, and she looked up a few minutes later to frown at Hibari slightly. "He should be fine. Why did you have to go so hard on him, though?"

The cloud guardian shrugged nonchalantly at her in reply. He didn't like elaborating.

"I know your ways, Hibari, but you do realize that this isn't the Sawada Tsunayoshi of this time." Sighing, Bianchi patted the soft cheek of the teen before walking out of the room to get more supplies and perhaps some food for the boy. Honestly, dragging them into this wasn't her idea, but it had to be done. And for Tsuna to deal with this demonic man was quite another, too. Bianchi wondered how the older Tsuna dealt with Hibari. He seemed to be the only person who had a way with the icy cloud guardian, somehow.

"Have I pushed you too far?"

_Several months ago..._

Hibari had never liked meetings. Meetings were quite unnecessary, from his point of view, and besides, they always meant crowding in some way. And if there was one thing he hated more than a certain perverted pineapple-haired bastard, it would be meetings. Only this time, it was different. This meeting was small, and only consisted of two others besides himself. Even so...

"Glad you could make it, Hibari-san." The usual cheerful voice of Sawada Tsunayoshi greeted Hibari as he stepped in the office, his usual scowl on his face. He wasn't about to hide the fact that he hated meetings from his supposed "boss". Hibari ignored the smile on Tsuna's face for reasons unmentioned, and took the seat next to a bespectacled red-haired man with a mild glare. Tsuna had smiled, evidently used to Hibari's behavior. "This is Irie Shoichi. Shoichi-kun, this is Hibari Kyouya, my cloud guardian. I believe you two have met before."

Hibari gave the man an acknowledging nod, and smirked inwardly when he saw Shoichi flinch. Well, apparently he was too good at scaring others off. Tsuna sighed and stretched out a bit behind his desk before clearing his throat. He knew that look too well, and how Hibari did that just to annoy him. "So, Hibari-san. Shoichi-kun and I have developed a... plan to counter the Millefiore. More specifically, Byakuran."

Hibari returned Tsuna's words with a bored look, though he made it clear through their shared gaze that he was paying attention. Of course, he was also a little... skeptical. Byakuran was strong. To the point where Tsuna had to restrain him back from taking on the Millefiore boss on his own, something that bugged the both of them to no end. "What kind of plan?" Hibari asked, crossing his arms

Tsuna gave a nervous laugh. "W-Well, Hibari-san... I was hoping that you'd agree to it first."

_'What a useless remark.' _Hibari refrained from scoffing. "If you don't tell me, I can't agree to it." He looked up, only to have Tsuna's gaze wander away from his. What was wrong?

"Please, Hibari-san..."

"Irie Shoichi. How is this plan supposed to go?" Hibari asked, turning his attention- and his anger- towards the younger man.

Shoichi seemed to back up against his chair for a second before sighing. "Tsunayoshi-san..."

Tsuna seemed to have something on his mind, however, something that was slowly starting to bother Hibari- and it wasn't in a good way. He smiled good-naturedly at Shoichi for a moment. "Erm, Shoichi-kun, do you mind leaving us alone for a little bit? The library is just down the hallway- we won't take long." Shoichi took the offer easily and was soon out of the office, most likely to bury his worries in books instead of rather frightening cloud guardians. The minute Shoichi was out of the door, however, Hibari pounced, reaching across Tsuna's desk to grab at his boss's collar, scattering paperwork everywhere.

"Herbivore... explain yourself."

A laugh, dry and hollow, escaped the brunette in reply. "It's been a while since you've called me that, Hibari-san."

It was starting to become irritating, this Tsunayoshi. "Answer the question."

"Then agree to the plan." Tsuna's voice slid into the dead-serious tone that he had developed over the years as he spoke. "Give your consent and your cooperation."

"Hell no!" Hibari nearly spat, eyes boring into Tsuna's. What was the plan? It was definitely something that Tsuna knew he wouldn't agree to, or they wouldn't be running in this huge circle. The entire process was starting to irritate the hell out of Hibari. "Tell. Me."

Tsuna blinked a few times before sighing, his hand clasping over Hibari's, which were still grabbing onto his shirt collar. He seemed to struggle internally for a few minutes, head bent down, until Hibari shook him violently. More paper scattered onto the floor before Tsuna finally got hold of himself and looked up at Hibari. "I can't. Please, Hibari-san. It's... it's not bad, really. There's no danger... for you."

Somehow, Hibari didn't like the way that sentence was worded, but he had no choice. Tsuna wasn't budging, not even one bit. "Fine, stupid. I'll cooperate within means. Now _tell me._"

Tsuna seemed to relax a bit underneath Hibari's grip and gave a weak smile. "Byakuran's powers- Shoichi-kun has told you of them, correct?" Hibari nodded in reply. Byakuran's powers of transporting information across the parallel worlds was clear to him, though it sounded too obscure and... strange to be true. No matter- nowadays, stranger things were happening. "Well... his power has destroyed everything. Everything... except here, Hibari-san." The way that Tsuna was dragging this out was starting to become a little intolerable for Hibari, who pulled Tsuna's face closer to his with a growl to show his annoyance with the brunette. "E-Eh, Hibari-san, don't get impatient. I'm getting to the point. Shoichi-kun and I have developed a way to perhaps defeat him here before he takes over, but..."

"But?" Hibari asked, his breath mixing with Tsuna's.

"... we stand a low chance without... the Vongola Rings." Tsuna said, sighing. Both of them knew how Tsuna had deliberately destroyed all seven Vongola Rings a few years prior, finding them too powerful to control and how he had also feared misuse of its great power. "Shoichi-kun's got a solution for that, though. I-If we bring our past selves here, then they can bring the Vongola Rings over as well. Shoichi-kun's got it all worked out on his end."

Hibari's breath caught in his throat. Bring their past selves here? That was possible? Well, nowadays, it was hard to tell what was and what wasn't anymore. "What's the catch?"

Tsuna's smile seemed too bright to be true. "W-Well... we can't possibly have two of the same people around, can we... it would break universal laws and... cause something that we can't fix." Once again, Tsuna's way of dragging it all out was really starting to get to Hibari. But what could he do about it? This was, after all, Tsuna's supposed plan. Hibari saw nothing wrong with it at the moment.

"I have to die."

- x -

A/N:

Italian Translations:

"_E'la nostra ora incisa sull'anello." _- An hour has been engraved on the ring.

"_Il tempo scorre. Il passato è il presente. Il presente è il futuro. E il futuro è il passato. Tutto è come uno. - _Time flows. The past is the present. The present is the future. And the future is the past. Everything is as one.

"_Per fiorire o morire, spetta a voi adesso, Vongola Decimo."_ - To flourish or to perish, it is up to you now, Vongola Decimo.

"_Ho aspettato per voi, il mio cielo." _- I have been waiting for you, my sky.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This was by far the hardest chapter for me to write- each scene was rewritten at least once before I was happy with it, even though this is such a short chapter. Needless to say, I'm happier with some scenes than others... I hope you all enjoy it! And as usual, please alert me of any typos I may have made.

- x -

CHAPTER 3

**KAKERA**

"I have to die."

The words hit Hibari like a brick wall in the face. Die? _Die?_ Surely he was stretching it a bit. But the look in Tsuna's eyes said otherwise. Like it or not, Hibari knew, deep down, that the brunette was serious. Dead serious. Confusion swept over him now, in heaping waves that only made things even less understandable. Hibari was knocked out of his silent abyss of rage, confusion, and speechlessness only when Tsuna gave a small chuckle, his caramel eyes darting down to the floor. "It's not often that I can tease that sort of look out of you, Hibari-san."

The chuckle got to Hibari, alright. Was Tsuna seriously mocking him just now? Unacceptable. "Quit messing with me, _Sawada Tsunayoshi._"

The remark only seemed to encourage Tsuna, however, whose hands clutched over Hibari's with an even stronger grip as brown irises met gray and a bittersweet smile tugged at the Decimo's lips. "So my death would bother you, would it?" Hibari's eyes betrayed his inner turmoil, something that Tsuna read only to well. The fact that he could understand Hibari so well was seriously starting to annoy the dark-haired guardian. "I'm so happy, Hibari-san." The hands that had been on his a moment before laced into his hair, and a moment later, Hibari found his lips on Tsuna's in a kiss, an action that overthrew his emotions into a melting pot. Sawada Tsunayoshi, the only person who could make him feel angry, confused, annoyed, overjoyed, and deprived all at once.

It took a few seconds for Hibari to realize what was going on before he shoved Tsuna back roughly, causing the mafia boss to land back in his chair with a disheveled thump. A nonchalant smile was still on Tsuna's face, something that irked and amused Hibari to no end. This man... was impossible. Impossible. This was no longer the smiling, innocent, and playful fourteen-year-old that was always getting beat up by the bullies. "Quit screwing around. I made myself clear a few years ago." Hibari said, regaining his composure quickly before plopping back down into his own seat and glaring at Tsuna. "There is no other way?"

Tsuna gave a sad shake of his head. "There's no other way. And Shoichi-kun's going to have to get rid of my body in a way that won't affect the past self of me when he comes along." Hibari's stomach gave a nasty turn at the thought. The body. Even the body had to be "taken care of"? It was a little too much. Hibari had seen bodies, of course. Dead bodies littering the bloodstained marble floors of familigas that he had brought down. But those were the bodies of the weak. Of the enemy. As much as he hated admitting it, Tsuna was neither of those things. "Don't worry, Hibari-san. It'll be fine. And you don't really have to do too much, you know." Tsuna got off of his chair to kneel down and start picking up the fallen paperwork. "Just make sure you keep the plan from others at all costs- even others in our family. Shoichi-kun will brief you on the details later." Hibari watched in an uneasy way as Tsuna stacked the papers together and placed them back onto his desk in neat piles. Was it really that easy? "Oh, and one more thing." Tsuna said as Hibari was about to walk out the door, presumably to the library to knock the details out of Shoichi. "Take care of him for me, will you?"

"Him?" Hibari asked, his hand already at the door knob. Sometimes, Tsuna could be so vague in his speech that it would be hard to understand just what he was talking about. As of late, Tsuna was becoming more and more obscure.

"Me. My past self, I mean." Tsuna smiled, lips tingling with the taste of bitterness and sweetness. "He isn't really me, so... don't drag him into... us." Hibari scowled before flinging the door open violently. What had he seen in this man that had captivated him only years before? Where was that patch of innocence, that single white lotus flower blooming in the dirty mud that surrounded it? Or... no. He knew the answer to the question already. White never stays pure. White was the color of paper before graphite and ink tainted it. White was the color of a bride's silk gown before the grass and dirt sullied its hem. White was the color of a lotus before the blossom withers and is reclaimed by the mud surrounding its once supreme beauty. Sawada Tsunayoshi couldn't be any different. Ten years was enough for such a flower to wither away.

"There was never 'us', Sawada Tsunayoshi." Hibari said before stepping out of the doorway and looking back at Tsuna. "Never was. Never will be."

The look in Tsuna's eyes betrayed him. It was now so rare of the boss to make such a personal expression that Hibari froze in the doorway. What was it about Tsuna that baffled him before- the change? But before he had time to fully realize it, the look was gone, submerged underneath the self-control once more as Tsuna looked away. Words were exchanged without either mouth opening, and the door closed, shutting with a _click_ as Hibari walked on, leaving Tsuna behind him.

_..._

Hibari's face contorted, a mix of emotions as his hand brushed by sienna locks again. It was only recently that he realized the many things that he hadn't realized before. Of course, it was much too late for him to fully understand everything anymore, but what did it matter? In the end... there was nothing else to be done. The dead were dead, and the living... had to move on, whether he liked it or not. Although the past was right underneath his fingertips, within his grasp, it was no longer his to take.

Was that the sour bitterness that he felt eating away at his chest again?

- x -

Hurt.

He hurt everywhere. There wasn't a single strained tendon nor a muscle that didn't ache in protest. Tsuna rolled over in his bed, restless and uneasy. He was worn out from the long day of training that he had had with Hibari (which turned out to be just as fruitless as the day before, according to the rather annoyed cloud guardian as he stomped away from the training room), but he still didn't feel like sleeping. His mind was too preoccupied for sleep to take firm hold of him. His muddled thoughts stuck on the back of his head like a stubborn sticker that he couldn't scrape off. Sighing, he rolled over again only to bump into something that most certainly wasn't the wall.

"Good evening, Decimo."

A great number of things happened in rapid succession after that. First and foremost was a the high-pitched "H-HIIEEEE!" from Tsuna, and then the rustling of sheets as he got up and then gave the foreign invader in his bed a hard kick before plastering himself onto the wall which was next to his bed. His breath and heart rate and both picked up, and he looked down on the wriggling bundle of blankets that contained the perpetrator. His breath hitched in his throat as the white blankets were pushed back, revealing a familiar dark cape, golden decorations, and matching blonde hair. Tsuna's hand covered his mouth in surprise as he saw recognized who it was.

Primo rubbed his throbbing side and sighed. Despite looks, his Decimo actually had the strength to kick people quite hard- hard enough to knock him off the bed, anyway. He just managed to untangle himself from the blankets to see the brunette practically glued to the wall and standing on his bed. "Ah... sorry about that Decimo. I thought you knew that I was there." Well, usually the past bosses would at least be able to tell when the ring glowed and when he stepped out of the ring. Apparently, Decimo was a bit too young for that- or he was really _that_ caught up in his thoughts. He had deep thoughts for a fourteen-year-old, alright, and that anxiety had carried over into the ring and bugged Primo enough for him to use the ring's power to appear before his Decimo like this.

"I-It's you! W-What are you doing here?" Tsuna stuttered, pointing at the blonde man on the floor as he tried to catch his breath, his chest heaving up and down underneath his gray pajama shirt. Okay, so it wasn't some sort of creepy underwear thief (Mukuro) or obsessive right-hand man (Gokudera), but this strange man who had appeared in a strange hallucination two days ago.

"You seem to have something on your mind..." Primo replied smoothly, picking himself off the floor and untangling himself from the blankets as if it was something that he did every day. "I figured I'd make a trip out here to see what was the matter." Tsuna relaxed a bit. He seemed to be telling the truth, but his choice of words sure was funny. What did he mean, "make a trip out here"? He was _in _the room, though... that didn't make too much sense just now. Actually, _nothing _was making much sense to Tsuna at the moment. How did this man seem to know so much? It was as if he could just see through Tsuna entirely. He shuddered involuntarily at the thought. No, that wasn't it. How could someone do something like that, anyway? They hardly knew each other.

"How would you know?" Tsuna asked, giving the man a suspicious look before crossing his arms.

Giotto blinked a few times before smiling warmly. Yes, the bosses before had all been a bit amazed at how he detected their feelings and emotions so easily in the beginning. Decimo was no different. He had a lot of explaining to do, didn't he? "I have my ways. What is bothering you?"

Tsuna bit his bottom lip in hesitation. Could he trust this man? Well, considering that he had only seen this man in his _head_, this surely couldn't be real. And the little selfishness he had now swelled up inside him. _Why not?_ He needed an outlet.

"A number of things... I guess." His training, for one. Hibari's way of training was not only tiring, ruthless, but also always ended up knocking him unconscious to boot. And it was starting to get so disappointing. What was Hibari looking for? Frustration and anger towards the older man started to build up inside Tsuna, slowly but surely. What was he doing wrong? He had gotten the flames. He had tried his best, even if he kept ricocheting like a stray bullet off the training rooms' walls. Hibari was relentless. Tsuna didn't know what had happened in the ten years, but whatever had happened... it turned Hibari into someone who he didn't know anymore. They were strangers. They were strangers again, the disciplinary chairman with his iron fist and the dame student who was always late for class again.

It hurt. As the thick fabric of the black coat embraced him, Tsuna poured everything out. He was dreaming. He was hallucinating. But at least, at the very least...he had the comfort. He had the protection from his pain, even if it was temporary and false.

And that was all that mattered now.

- x -

Blood. Blood. Blood.

Where was he? Oh. No, wait. This wasn't right. This wasn't right at all. The ring, the ring. It was gone, wasn't it? Why was he still around? His hands looked solid as ever, and he felt the throbbing of conscience about him. The ebbs of power, the webs of energy, as if nothing had changed. Something was wrong. Why should he still be here? He had been released, or so he thought. Eyes widening, his hands slipped into his hair, the decorative military outfit, the same lines in the same face. It was all... all as if nothing had happened. Before he even checked the surroundings of the ring, however, he needed to know more. He had to know what was going on. And there was only one person to go to for that.

"Vongola." Precisely. It didn't take long for him to locate the sky flames' powerful energy, the flickering of familiar heat.

With a step set in the stones of time, he stepped forward, disappearing in the abyss of the void in a single bluish-indigo flame, leaving nothing but a cold presence in his wake.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Now that I look back on it, the last chapter was a total trainwreck... oh well. Slow updates because of school, please bear with me. I'm amazed I've came this far and Tsuna still hasn't found out who Giotto really is. Good going, Dame Tsuna, good going. Thank you for patiently waiting for the update, everyone, and enjoy this new chapter. I hope I'm moving the plot at a reasonable rate. Hopefully you guys can get a whiff of the AG love soon. I hope. From this chapter on things will divert from the original plot of KHR. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

EDIT: Thank you for pointing out my typos, **eclipsed flower**! If anyone finds any typos at all, pleeeeeease tell me. I generally just read over the chapter myself and a lot of times I miss things. 'Cuz, you know, I'm human and stuff, haha. If only I was a spellcheck machine or a dictionary.

- x -

CHAPTER 4

**KAKERA**

When Tsuna's dreams left him, the cold comfort of his blankets called out to stir him awake. He moaned in discomfort as the aches and pains attacked his muscles again. Great, great. There would only be more today, and still more after that. Until Hibari was satisfied with his power, anyway... Tsuna could only scoff and then whimper slightly. How was he going to make up for ten years of training and battles in a few months? The case was hopeless. He could see the outlines of Hibari's face, the disappointment, the anger, the tinge of hopelessness that slipped from the older cloud guardian whenever Tsuna messed up, and that was quite often in their training. Tsuna had to remind himself that Hibari wasn't the real Hibari, that he wasn't the same sulking teenage disciplinary committee chairman back in his day. Maybe Tsuna had expected too much. He should have known. The little warmth that was left over from last night left him completely. Comfort was always so temporary. It was the occasional patch of blue sky that made itself visible being being obscured by dark clouds again.

And yet, why did he have to indulge himself in it? And to be comforted by a man whose name he did not even know... what had he been _thinking_ last night? Tsuna groaned. He was relying way too much on his intuition, his emotions, and now his logic was finally catching up. At any rate, he was determined to focus now. What was making him dwell on such superficial thoughts anyway? He was here in the future to defeat Byakuran and get back to his own time... not to repair the damage done to the relationship between his future self and Hibari.

But, it still hurt.

Thankfully, however, Gokudera and Yamamoto were able to bring him back to his normal self, and they settled down to breakfast in the usual easy-going manner. Mealtimes were one of the only times when Tsuna could truly relax and spend time with his friends and family, as dysfunctional as they were. Lambo was his usual, well, annoying self, though I-Pin did manage with him rather well. Haru and Kyoko were their dutiful selves and fared well. Ryohei was the most enthusiastic and lively out of them all, as usual, and Tsuna laughed along with his ridiculous jokes. It seemed like time didn't change everyone. And as that thought came in, so did thoughts of... Hibari. Hibari was one person who _had_ changed. Drastically, and for the worse, it seemed...

"Baka-Tsuna, pay attention or you'll plant your head into your miso soup." Reborn's voice cut through to Tsuna and got him back down to earth. Oh... his bowl of miso soup did look considerably closer than he had imagined. Smiling sheepishly, he stopped abruptly when Reborn's piercing glare hit him. "Tsuna. You're not yourself today. If you don't sort out what's on your mind, your training will only go downhill."

"What are you talking about, stupid? Juudaime's his normal self!" Gokudera piped up in defense. "Ne, Juudaime?"

"I know what I'm talking about." Reborn's voice was deathly calm. Tsuna felt the blood freeze in his veins. Oh, this was rather bad. Why did his tutor have to be so observant of everything? _Well, I suppose that's Reborn's job to be like that,_ Tsuna thought to himself. Darn it all. The girls and Lambo stared at the situation, not knowing what to make of it. Tsuna seemed fine to them. Why was Reborn picking at something that wasn't there?

The infant hopped off of the table with a miniscule _thump_ and headed for the door. "Your training with Hibari is temporarily delayed today. We need to talk." And with the _whoosh_ and _clack_ of the electric sliding door, Reborn left Tsuna in a state of fear and the rest of them in a rather confused but curious silence. Tsuna lost his appetite soon after that, and excused himself for the training room.

Everything seemed to be in place. The white walls of the training room greeted Tsuna with their tiled white cheeks, ready for another day of training, of destruction. Only this day, there lacked the ominous, dark cloud. There was no solitary figure standing there in a black suit, wielding the signature metal tonfas that spoke of broken bones and crushed muscles. Today, there was only a small, lonely figure of the infant hitman standing in the middle of the training room, with his arms crossed and with an unreadable expression on his face. Tsuna didn't know what to think. Was the infant going to punish him for not being able to break through with his training with Hibari? But again... the cloud guardian was just too scary to approach. And the fact that Tsuna had let himself go a little too much around Hibari didn't help much either. "Reborn?" Tsuna asked, as he slipped on his fluffy white mittens. "W-What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Your training, of course. You've disappointed me." The words, laced with the harsh reality that Tsuna had wanted to ignore, hit him with full force. "I thought you'd make a breakthrough by now." So had Tsuna, but things were only getting worse whenever he trained with Hibari. Before the apology was even out of his mouth, Reborn held up a hand to stop him. "I know what you're going to say. I know you've been trying, but I want to know why you can't succeed."

Tsuna bit his bottom lip nervously. How was he supposed to know when Reborn had no idea? He was doing the best he could, but how was he supposed to get any improvement when he didn't even know what Hibari was trying to pound out of him? "I don't know..." Tsuna muttered, his gaze falling onto the floor. "I don't even know what you and Hibari are trying to get me to do, so how am I supposed to come through with the training?" He sounded like a child who had not done his homework and was now making pathetic excuses for it. Reborn obviously wasn't going to take no as an answer, however.

"If something's eating you up inside, it will show on the outside. Remember that, Tsunayoshi. Now, we don't have much time left, so I suggest you figure things out soon before everything goes to hell." The baby gave him an encouraging nod before walking out of the room, the sound of his small footsteps echoing through the empty training room.

- x -

"You're making the same mistakes over and over again, Tsunayoshi," Hibari muttered as he walked over to Tsuna, who was busy trying to dig himself out of a new pile of debris. He had let the hard flames' wildly unpredictable peak type get to him again... it was only too easy to let it get out of control. "When will you learn from them?"

"I'm trying," Tsuna said, having finally released himself from the pile of broken concrete. He really was. Why was it so difficult? Why did the blonde man give him these powerful flames when he had no way to control them? He now felt a bit... resentful. Just a little bit. Stupid blonde man, even if he was kind and all. Tsuna's conflicted feelings were everywhere. Everywhere at once, and yet nowhere.

"Your new weapon is of no use to you if you can't control it," Hibari growled, his tonfas at the ready. His new weapon- oh, Hibari was referring to the flames. Tsuna could only mentally grumble under his breath. Hibari was so... persistent. At least that part of him hadn't changed. But how was he going to control the flames? They always shot up exponentially, too quickly for Tsuna to get a grasp of before they sent him crashing into some random direction. _Is there even a way to control these flames? _Tsuna asked himself, staring at the bright orange flames that flowed from his gloves. Wild. Unpredictable. No, Hibari was asking for too much.

"_The flames are double-sided blade. Why don't you use both edges?"_

Tsuna's gaze shot up towards Hibari. "Did you say something?"

Hibari only gave Tsuna an annoyed glare. "I told you to get up. Are you deaf?"

"No, not that. Something about a blade?"

The question earned him a swipe from the metal tonfas that cut across his cheek and sent him tumbling into the pile of debris again. Tsuna gave a yell of pain as he hit the jagged edges of the fallen concrete. "Seems like your ears have been affected by your stupidity, herbivore." Tsuna blinked in confusion. But if it hadn't been him, then... who was it? "Five minute break. And this time you had better do something, or I'll bite you to death." Tsuna's flame went out at the threat, and he felt a cold chill leave the air as Hibari walked out of the room. Once unapproachable, always unapproachable, no matter how hard he tried. The thought was depressing.

"_Power, precision, and balance." _

A hand enclosed around Tsuna's shoulder, startling him and causing him to turn around to see who it was. To his surprise, it was the blonde man. _Again._ The way the man seemed to appear out of nowhere was slowly starting to irk him, and yet... his hyper intuition told him that the man before him meant no harm. Tsuna was forced to accept it for now- and he doubted he could harm the man, anyway. After all... he seemed to embody the ebs of power itself. "... what?" Tsuna asked, brows furrowing in confusion from the man's words.

"_The three key words to swordsmanship, and to controlling one's flames." _A gloved hand caressed his forehead gently. And with the gesture, it suddenly dawned on him. The gloves. The advice. The calm, gentle manner. The flames. The power. Suddenly, a fresh memory of one of Tsuna's earliest lessons with Reborn popped up in his head. It just came together, like the scattered pieces to a puzzle that existed long ago.

...

The dust filtered in through his nose, his mouth, his eyes, as the fire burned out on his forehead. The day was scorching hot, and as Tsuna's senses came back to him, he realized why he had that previous sense of fear. Behind him was thin air, and looking up- oh, crap, what was he doing all the way up here? The lack of clothing explained itself, and the voice of the familiar baby called out to him. "Baka-Tsuna, you have twenty seconds left. Make your way up here or there will be consequences." Oh, _no._ Tsuna made the mistake of looking down at that point, and gave a rather loud yell of terror as he saw the distance between his body and the ground. Unfortunately, the yell was also enough to distract him from hanging onto the cliff in front of him, and subsequently he lost his grip, sending him plummeting to the large pool of water down below with a scream and a loud splash.

"Why am I forced to climb this stupid cliff anyway?" Tsuna asked, panting, after he nearly drowned in the water and was pulled up by Leon after Reborn descended from the top of the cliff. Honestly, half the time Reborn would be at least a little reasonable with his training, but it seemed like those days were over.

"Your training, of course, to perfect Primo's technique." Reborn replied smoothly.

Tsuna blinked in confusion. What? Reborn was skipping steps again- he had no idea what Reborn was talking about. Had Reborn explained this and Tsuna simply forgotten, or was this the first time Reborn was mentioning this? "And climbing a cliff is going to help me do that?"

"Eventually." Reborn said mysteriously. "I'm training you the same way Primo trained himself. You do know that you and he share the same weapon, right?"

"You mean these mittens?" Tsuna asked with a rather degrading look at his fluffy white mittens. It was a little hard to believe. The first generation boss of the Vongola had something like this as well? Or... Reborn was most likely referring to the transformed X-Gloves and not these mittens.

...

"Y-You are..."

Loud footsteps cut Tsuna off, and as they did so, the presence of the cold and unforgiving cloud returned, overlapping the blue skies again. The warm presence disappeared from him, leaving him to stand alone again. Alone against Hibari. "Ready?" His steel gray eyes narrowed.

Tsuna exhaled slowly. The words came back to him in a wave- calm, washing over him, covering him completely before leaving him again. Power. He had that from the new flames. Precision. His ability to aim and use the flames precisely the way he wanted to. Balance. The last word puzzled him. What did he mean by balance? Balance meant the equili

"I'm ready."

Tonfas and gloves made contact, sparks flying off in random directions as they became a flash of black and orange through the training room. Tsuna did his best to throw Hibari off-track. Off-track for him to calculate things, perhaps. But it was hard making contact with the actual man. Instead, Tsuna found himself on the receiving end of an endless barrage of metal tonfa strikes again. Biting his bottom lip, Tsuna took a risk and blasted wildly up at the ceiling, causing a cascade of debris to rain down. Hibari was now momentarily distracted by the influx of concrete, and Tsuna had a chance to try things out. Extending his arms out, one in front of his body and one behind, he blasted a stream of soft flames behind him. And then, just as Hibari emerged from the crumbling debris, Tsuna let out a large stream of hard flames from his other glove, aimed straight at Hibari. There was a blinding light and then an explosion. Tsuna's body was thrust backward again, though at a slower pace this time. From the dust, Hibari emerged, a dark smirk on his face as he pocketed his box weapon back in his suit. A small pile that resembled the pieces of a shattered ring laid by his feet.

"Seems like you've found your weapon."

- x -

The light faded away, and Giotto's eyes were once again embraced by the darkness. His Decimo. His Decimo, a lonesome figure surrounded by countless others. A smile graced his features, and then a pair of gloved hands that groped along his chest distracted him from his thoughts. The smell of a fruity essence filled the air, and Giotto groaned inwardly. Not this again. No. Why did this always happen to _him_? "Daemon, please, I don't appreciate being greeted in such a way," Giotto said lightly, though his hands were firm in pushing the insistent fingers off of his body.

"Nufufu... four hundred years evidently wasn't enough to cure your stubbornness." The hands slipped off of him, and a man who appeared to be in his late twenties appeared before him, dressed elegantly in a military uniform. However, the air about him and the crooked smile on his face was enough to indicate just how far he was from the stereotypical honorable military man. No, this was someone else entirely. This was Daemon Spade, the traitorous mist guardian of the first Vongola family.

"What do you want?" Giotto asked, his eyes setting on Daemon in an uneasy manner. "... have you lifted that stupid illusion that you've put on G's ring?" Years back, Daemon had set one of his tricky illusions on the storm ring, causing G to be unable to communicate with Giotto. Though Giotto had tried to talk, convince, and even threaten Daemon into removing it, his attempts had all failed. The two were on shaky terms from the start, and that incident with G made things even worse. However... things never really toppled over, and Giotto knew that for all his faults, Daemon Spade was still worth keeping.

"Hardly." Daemon smirked, an expression that Giotto had learned how to ignore over the years. "This is more about _you_, actually..." Giotto only gave an exasperated huff. Daemon always ran around in circles with his speech, something that he had grown to hate about him. However, Daemon seemed to do more and more of that nowadays- perhaps it was because he had discovered how much Giotto hated it. Either way, Daemon was in his element as he continued speaking. "You... and the new Decimo." Giotto's expression was now one of mild surprise. So Daemon had figured out that the ring had been passed onto a new boss already? Well... if it wasn't for the fact that G was blocked off from communication from him, perhaps he would have found out as well.

"What about the new Decimo?" Giotto asked rather casually, hiding his inner surprise well.

Daemon's gloved fingers intertwined together thoughtfully before his eyes, filled with the sly intent of a demon and a darkness which only time could penetrate. "I don't know, boss. Are you sure he's the one?" Daemon sighed when he saw the confused expression on Giotto's face. "I mean... are you sure he's the real boss?"

Giotto tapped himself on the forehead a few times before replying. "I know you're often... concerned about the succession, Daemon, but at least have a bit of faith in me." He had chosen the boss before and hadn't failed before. Of course, this time was no different. Not much different, anyhow. Daemon only shrugged mildly in reply.

"I don't know, Giotto." This rare instance where his name was mentioned left Giotto in a cold sweat. Was Daemon seriously concerned? If so... _why_? He had never questioned the succession this much before. Perhaps Daemon was just playing with him, but Giotto's intuition was starting to sway in another direction as well. "I've never seen you spend so much thought and spare so much concern over the other bosses before. So of course I'm a little... alarmed." And now that he had pointed it out... Giotto had to silently admit that it was true. No, it was too true. He was spending much time thinking about Tsuna, as compared to the Vongola in general. Or was it all in his head?

"He's a child," Giotto pointed out, crossing his arms as he spoke. "Of course I should be concerned." But inside, Giotto's thoughts were as conflicted as ever, a flickering flame that threatened to be blown out by Daemon's words. As much as he hated it, there was the bitter taste of truth in his words. But how could he turn back now?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Ahaha, I rarely rant about reviews and stuff like that, but it's nice getting them, and allows me to backtrack and figure out what I need to work on. Thank you! I realized that the summary isn't 100% correct. I might go back and change it. I don't really know if Daemon's Italian, ayyyy.

- x -

**KAKERA**

CHAPTER 5

"Feeling better, Juudaime?" As usual, Gokudera was the first to greet Tsuna as he entered the room. Today, the silver-haired bomber noticed, Tsuna seemed a bit better. Looked better, at the very least, with some color in his cheeks and the dark circles under his eyes diminishing. Last night he had went to bed without dinner and a face whiter than the sheets he slept on. Not that Gokudera would know what Tsuna looked like while he was asleep- not really. Waking up periodically in the middle of the night to check on his boss was completely normal, after all. Tsuna only smiled in Gokudera's direction in reply before sitting down.

"I'm feeling good." He looked better, anyhow. "What's for breakfast?" The usual self, it seemed. Perhaps Gokudera had been a little overly concerned in the past couple of days for no reason. Well, all's well that ends well, he supposed. So long as his Juudaime was okay. That was the numero uno thing to watch out for on his list, anyhow.

"I don't know, really. Those damn girls are taking their time today," Gokudera replied, the annoyance clearly in his voice.

"Maa, maa, they're probably working hard at breakfast, so chill," said Yamamoto reasonably, smiling apologetically in Tsuna's direction. Of course, chilling came more naturally to Yamamoto than it did to Gokudera, and it didn't take long for the two to begin their daily bickering. Well, bickering on Gokudera's half and attempts to soothe on Yamamoto's.

But Tsuna did not particularly pay attention to his words, nor did he see the smile that was directed at him. His eyes were gazing at the feebly flickering Vongola ring that hugged his right middle finger. Captivating, that light. It was the flickering flame of a spark, a spark that caught fire before burning brightly, shedding light and emitting heat into the darkness. A soft blush captured Tsuna's cheeks, and he rubbed the ring with his fingers absently. The gentle calmness embraced him again, and from the back of his head, a voice echoed in his head, the Japanese accented with a slight melodious wisp.

_"You space out a lot, Decimo." _

Tsuna smiled in amusement. The way Primo would just pop out whenever he rubbed at the ring was similar to the way a genie popped out when one rubbed at the lamp it occupied. That was rather amusing, actually, only Primo didn't really grant wishes. Not directly, anyway.

"Ta-da!"

With a loud bang, the kitchen door slammed open, and a rather energetic Haru burst out, arms laddened with foods. Not just the normal bread-and-milk today, however. Tsuna's nostrils were stimulated with the smells of miso soup, mochi, and soy sauce. Real food! Kyoko walked in as well, carrying trays of steaming buns and warm tea, which she set on the table quietly with a smile that made Tsuna's cheeks burn when it was directed at him. Gokudera looked stunned, and Yamamoto had an impressed look on his face before he grinned and thanked the girls for the meal. Tsuna hadn't had any food other than the canned rations and bread in days. This looked good. Better than anything Tsuna had eaten for a long time, actually.

"Aren't you going to eat, Tsuna-kun?" Kyoko pushed a bowl of steaming hot miso soup in front of Tsuna, who laughed nervously.

"I-I guess so. But where did you guys get all this food from?"

"Oh!" Haru perked up at the question. "There was this really nice vendor who let us have his entire inventory for free when Lal was with us in town because it was about to go bad or something. But you know, there's really nothing wrong with it at all!" Haru giggled, and seemed to revel in the good deal she'd just taken up on. It did sound like a good deal- it was indeed a lot of food. Good-tasting food.

Tsuna didn't think much before digging in as well.

- x -

Hibari frowned as he watched Tsuna stagger into the training room. He was late. Reborn _did_ tell him to get here by eight, didn't he? Babies were sometimes a bit unreliable. Maybe next time Hibari would have to drop in on Tsuna himself, but then... usually Tsuna ate with others, and Hibari's taste for crowds hadn't increased much in the last ten years. It was a pity that Tsuna was always in one, for one reason or another. Pity.

"Herbivore, we have training to do."

At the call, Tsuna's gaze snapped to Hibari's, and the healthy color that had glowed from his face drained away. Fear. Hibari could see it, and sense it. But he hadn't seen that look from the face of Sawada Tsunayoshi in a while now. No, in the past few years, the only things that had surfaced from those mysterious brown eyes was bitterness, a sweet longing, and occasionally, an overwhelming sadness. Lost. Sawada Tsunayoshi had lost himself a long time ago, actually. This younger one was slipping through Hibari's fingers like sand, and there was nothing he could do about it. Hibari's look softened, and Tsuna's expression relaxed a bit, eyes closing for a moment before they opened again, gaze dropping to the ground as a bottle of pills were pulled out of his pocket. _Tap, tap, swallow._

_Whoosh. _

Flame, stable yet fleeting, burned on Tsuna's forehead. Breathtakingly destructive, Tsuna's gaze drifted to Hibari's again, the fear replaced with a silent defiance, the strength of a fighter. Hibari's lips curled into a smile. Perhaps that stubborn eighteen-year-old brunette who, years ago, had practically dragged Hibari into the mafia, was not lost yet. Not yet.

Hibari pulled out his tonfas, their metallic shine flashing coldly in contrast to the soft warmth of Tsuna's flame. "Today, I want you to start what we've been doing yesterday," Hibari said, checking on the number of rings he had left before continuing. Perhaps it would be a good idea to call on the bucking bronco for a refill, if only he could keep the older man's hands off of him whenever he paid the blonde mafia boss a visit. "Stabilizing that flame. The technique needs work, as we can't possibly have you fly back every time you use your flames like that. I want you to get used to both flames and responding to attacks properly as well."

Tsuna nodded, fiery gaze dropping to his gloves before he closed his eyes in concentration. He had to concentrate. Concentrate on his flames, concentrate on what to do and how to get to where he wanted to be. Warm arms embraced him from behind, and Tsuna felt the familiar breath brushing on his ear. A faint smile of relief came over Tsuna's expression, and he leaned back into those welcoming arms.

"I'm ready."

Hibari was about to fire up his ring when a loud, screeching alarm broke out. Red lights flashed, and Tsuna felt the warmth around him stiffen and tense. Hibari's brows knitted together in annoyance, a low growl escaping from his throat. "What is it?" Tsuna yelled, voice cutting through the screeching alarm.

Hibari looked down and narrowed his gaze, hands gripping at his tonfas. "Enemy attack, of course. Our base has been found."

Tsuna's blood ran cold. "But that's impossible, how-"

"I don't know." Tsuna jogged alongside Hibari in order to keep up with the older man's brisk pace. They dashed along the hallways, soon joined by a confused Ryohei.

"What's going on? You think it's faulty wiring?"

"Unlikely." Hibari muttered, eyes darting about before he turned a corner rather violently. "Giannini! The hell's going on?"

The short mechanic had a fearful look on his face, and papers scattered about as he ran down the hallway to meet the three of them. "Hurry, hurry! The Millefiore have invaded!"

Millefiore. Tsuna's blood ran cold, and his flame flickered as if a strong gust of wind was threatening to put it out. Millefiore. The white-haired boss whose smile gave him fits of shivering even worse than one of Hibari's death glares. Millefiore, whose base held the machine that Tsuna and his friends desperately needed for their return to the past. Millefiore, the rival familiga to the Vongola whose very existence threatened to overthrow what Primo had started over four hundred years prior. There was nothing to gain, and everything to lose.

Tsuna had never felt so terrified. Everything passed by in a blur as Hibari dragged him along, as Gokudera and Yamamoto joined in as well. The attackers- Millefiore. They had nearly been killed when they landed in the future. What if this time was a repeat of last time?

"Hey, Herbivore."

Fear.

"Herbivore. Are you listening?"

He couldn't see.

"Tsunayoshi."

Couldn't breathe.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi!"

He heard the smack of hand on skin before he felt the stinging pain at his cheek. Eyes focusing, he took several seconds to realize that Hibari had slapped him. Shock, confusion, and then anger raced through him. Gokudera was struggling against the combined force of Ryohei and Yamamoto, words that Tsuna didn't want to hear again firing out of his mouth. "W-What?"

"Don't. Do. That." Words forced from gritted teeth, anger and annoyance. Hibari was beyond pissed, and Tsuna didn't quite know how that had happened. He was just spacing out a little, and- "Concentrate."

"On what?" The words were out of his mouth before he realized how stupid they must have sounded. On how quickly the Millefiore were about to kick his ass? Yes, he was concentrating on that earlier, in case Hibari couldn't tell.

"On you." A hand grabbed him by his collar and shoved him along. "There's no time to fuck around. Hopefully the Millefiore will be better training tutors than I am."

Tsuna had never felt so cold. If there was something that could save him, anything, anyone...

Vision blurring, Tsuna realized that he couldn't tell the difference between what he could see when his eyes were closed and when they were open. It was too dark. Where was he? What happened to Hibari, to Gokudera and Ryohei and Yamamoto? Gone?

Or perhaps he was the one that had gone.

"Nufufufu..."

Startled, Tsuna took a step back instinctively but ended up bumping into something. Rather, someone. Arms, cold and inviting, surrounded him, and Tsuna looked up to see a familiar hairstyle, which caused him to struggle against the grip rather violently. No, no. What the hell was this, a dream about _that_ guardian of all people, at all times-

"_Che carino, Vongola Decimo. Nessuna meraviglia Giotto si è interessato in voi."_

Italian. What the hell? Why did everyone speak in Italian in his hallucinations, it didn't make any sense at all.

"_Oh, aspetta, sono giapponesi._" Again, that creepy laugh had Tsuna in a fit of wriggling in an attempt to escape the man's grip. "I've forgotten, silly me."

"W-Who are you?" Tsuna gasped, breathless and panting from his attempts at escaping.

The man looked amused at the question. "Oh, I don't suppose he has introduced you to us, has he. Huh, he's still the same conceited little narcissist he was years ago." He scoffed, but a smile still broke across his face. "I am Daemon Spade, first generation Mist guardian."

Mist. The word caused Tsuna to shiver despite himself. Creepy. Did all mist guardians have the same hairstyle? How uncreative.

"C-Could you let go of me then, Spade-san?" Gosh, was it just him, or were Daemon's hands wandering around? Creepy. This man was beyond creepy.

Daemon merely chuckled at the comment. "No, I think I'll have some fun with you while Giotto's out. Such an opportunity might not come again."

"Out?"

"Oh, you don't know?" Daemon asked, a sadistic smile crawling onto his lips. "He's out in your body right now. That's why you're in here. With me, I might mention. Lovely, isn't it?"

- x -

Translations:

"How cute, Vongola Decimo. No wonder Giotto's interested in you."

"Oh, wait, you are Japanese."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Eueheheh. Here are replies to reviews! I don't think I have the time to try to PM every single one of you... and heck this doesn't take as long. I don't necessarily reply to every single review that I receive, but I appreciate them all the same. It's just that I can't always think of a reply to some reviews other than just "thank you, thank you, thank you"! Oh, this chapter is what I call a "hot pot" chapter- a lot of jumping around. I'm not very good at battle scenes, and I feel like I didn't have quite enough time to write out the character thoughts because of all the description of what was going on. Maybe perverted Daemon can make up for my bad writing... maybe? He's too fun to write, and I think he might be a bit out of character in his thoughts. One day I'll portray him the way I want him to be portrayed. I hope. Chapter 6, here we go.

**Final Syai Lunar Generation:** If there's anything I love writing, it's a cute/creepy Giotto. I'm glad you liked the chapter! **Emriel: **Hnnng. Abused Tsuna is adorable, I couldn't resist. But I don't like writing him crying for some reason. Tearless angst is one of the most fun things to write for me. And going off on a tangent here, but I love your fic "The Snow King"! **eclipsed flower: **Reviewing helps me go through all my documents and try to figure out which one I should update, haha. It's like, "Oh, look, someone still reads this... guess I should update." I just stick bits and pieces of pairings that I like in my fics, really. Helps make characters more rounded and not just some one-true-love-Mary Sue. I'm a huge sucker for D18, so that always pops out in every damn fic I write that involves Dino and Hibari. _That _stuff? Oh, golly. I can write angst, but I don't know about _that_, haha. **NFGdP: **Don't abuse your keyboard, honey! Updating this fic has always been in the back of my head. I'm the type of author who takes a month to plan out stuff, a month to write it, and two more months to edit or rewrite. I'm sorry! And yep, Giotto's inside Tsuna's body now. Ohohohoho. **R3iga1004: **Everyone seems to like that 1827, haha. But herrrp, this is a G27 fic. **AYMK00: **I'll try not to disappoint! **Renkin-chan: ** I love creepy characters. 'Cuz, you know, Tsuna is forever surrounded by creepy people. Who always want to get in his pants. Or something like that, huehe.

- x -

**KAKERA**

CHAPTER 6

Hibari saw the brown eyes, irises tinged with an bold, flame-like tint, widen with surprise as the teenager stumbled forward, legs twisting and tangling together. Instinctively, he had reached forward, hands grasping onto the brunette's arms to prevent him from falling over backwards. There was calm but dazed look within those eyes, and Hibari contemplated slapping him again, but decided against it. Gokudera might just actually break free from Yamamoto and Ryohei's grip this time around.

And he could really do with a little less profanity.

"Thanks." Tsuna muttered, eyes falling from Hibari's piercing gaze to fall on the floor before regaining his balance shakily, hands pushing Hibari's away, who jerked aside awkwardly. Gokudera immediately stepped between the two as they moved on, lips curled into a rather malicious scowl. Tsuna, surprisingly, didn't say much of anything at all, and the silence was only violated by the occasional crash and boom of destruction up ahead. Dread and anticipation, mixed together in a fatal mix of silence and doom, prevented, for the most part, any conversation. Ryohei would occasionally ask Hibari something, but other than that, the three teenagers were silent. Yamamoto's fingers gripped his bamboo sword in a grip so tight that his knuckles were sprinkled with white. Gokudera's lips were pushed tightly together, a cigarette perched between them, the familiar tinge of annoyance mixed in with fear of what could come. Tsuna was even quieter than usual now, eyes clear and iridescent with something no one in particular noticed.

They approached a fork in the hallway when the lights of the hallways suddenly flickered, the buzz of electricity cut off momentarily as the four stopped in their tracks. Breathing ceased in concentration, and with a nearly inhuman acuteness, Hibari sidestepped, body stepping in front of Tsuna's as tonfas, swinging in a large arc that was a blaze of purple flames just in time to deflect a series of shots. Deformed copper shells hit the floor in hollow metallic _cling_s, and the four were almost instantly blinded by the light up ahead. The air filled with electricity and energy, cut off only when Gokudera activated his System C.A.I. A loud bang, followed by a rush of wind, greeted the four.

"Move!" Ryohei yelled, his voice cutting through the sound of additional bullets cutting through the air, hitting the defenses, which were weakening by the second. Hibari grabbed Tsuna by the collar, and surprisingly, the teen didn't protest as he was dragged along. Yamamoto followed Ryohei, and for a moment Gokudera was caught between the two. A conflicted expression plagued his expressions, and then the silver-haired guardian found himself lurching fowards towards Ryohei and Yamamoto, forced forward by a well-aimed kick. Looking back, he saw the gentle smile pass by his boss's face before the two disappeared down the darkened tunnel.

Panic boiled in him, the rage held up inside before cool fingers linked into his, pulling him along with a strength disproportionate to the slim digits. Looking up, he saw the determined line of Yamamoto's jaw, and the way the other hand gripped onto his sword. "Sawada will be fine," said Ryohei with a smile that betrayed his optimism. "Let's get going now, shall we?"

- x -

Giotto wasn't used to being human again.

Or, scratch that, he wasn't used to having a human body that actually _functioned_ like one. A physical one, to be exact. Giotto didn't quite recall how heavy a body was until he was back in one again. Eyes adjusting to the darkness of the corridor, he allowed the dark-haired man, presumably Decimo's cloud guardian, to drag him along as he adjusted to the body. The barrage of bullets came in higher frequency and number, but Giotto knew that, for now, they were protected from danger with those flames. Purple wisps passed by, and Giotto tensed, a distant part of him struggling to break again.

_"You're no boss of mine."_

A low chuckle escaped him, and he closed his eyes, willing the hidden strength within to escape. A split second later, a bright orange flame burned on his forehead, lighting up the darkened corridor. The dark-haired guardian turned around, grip on his collar weakening. Cold gray eyes pierced burning irises, and lips parted in a questioning air. Giotto knew that look too well, and simply pushed his way past the man, gloves extended out behind him as he rushed forward, leaving a bewildered cloud guardian behind him. It was awkward at first, and hard for him to keep his balance. Weight. That feeling needed a bit of time to get used to. A metallic reflection of the light he gave off from his flames caught his attention up ahead, and Giotto slowed, pulling his arms in front of him, palms outstretched to aim a stream of flames at the target. There was the faint whir of mechanical gears, and then a metallic robot-looking figure rushed straight at him, metal hand outstretched and ready to grab him.

_Crunch. _

Hot metal came in contact with the cold shell of the robot, and Giotto looked up into its retina display before giving it a rough kick, sending it into the dark abyss with an audible crash. Robots. Technology sure flew by when Giotto didn't pay attention. But that model did look quite familiar, though Giotto's mind couldn't race through the four hundred-plus years quickly enough to figure out why. He couldn't quite figure out what it was, perhaps, but he knew enough to get defeat it. Just in time, the lights flickered back on, and Giotto assumed that the techs had managed to get the electricity back on in the hallways again. At this point, however, he kind of wished he couldn't see. There, in front of him, stood half a dozen of the same robots. Hundreds of beams aimed straight at him, and Giotto blasted himself back just in time.

This was going to be much harder than he had planned.

Sneakers hit the wall at the end of the hallway as the energy beams bore smoking holes into the walls next to him. Dust choked him, and a barrage of bullets caught him off-guard again, as he charged forward once more. Offense was the best defense, as he'd always said before. White-hot gloves burned through another robot, and a forceful kick sent another three crashing to the end of the hallway. Just when Giotto thought he could catch a breath (as hard as that was to do with such a body), the high-pitched whistle of missiles came his way. Missiles in an underground hallway- who the hell was this stupid? They were underground, as far as Giotto knew. Underground, and with the missiles that meant destruction of more than just the walls. The initial damage would be nothing compared to the collapsing later. But hey, he was too familiar with collapsing, wasn't he? This shouldn't be that bad.

Shouldn't be.

- x -

The way the Giotto look-alike's jaw dropped and the blood drain out of that adorable Japanese face was quite alluring. Huh, when was the last time he had teased that kind of look out of someone, if anyone- Giotto? The memory kindled within him, fed by the remains of a raw emotion that was still ebbing away in the darkness. Daemon was a man of simple pleasures in that his pleasure spawned from the despair, the suffering of others. For the most part, anyhow, since somewhere underneath that sadistic smile and mind that was more twisted than a plate of _fusilli _pasta. But Daemon knew that there was one man who was probably more twisted that he was- at least, for hiring him. An amused chuckle escaped him, and he honestly couldn't help his wandering hands. It was an old habit, anyway, only this time he had a new toy.

"Your expressions are the same, and yet so different. Nufufu..." Daemon's hand slid up to caress the soft cheeks which were slowly starting to regain color. With a squeak and a stronger jerk than Daemon anticipated, Tsuna was out of the older man's grip and sent into a tumbling heap on the ground. Looking up at him was a face contorted a mixture of horror and fear. And in those brown irises, there was a familiar tinge of defiance. Annoyance registered in the back of Daemon's head, and he crossed his arms, a playful smile playing at his lips as he watched Tsuna get up and put himself at a distance away from the mist guardian.

"H-How do I know you're telling the truth?" Tsuna asked, glancing up at Daemon suspiciously.

"You know I am, Vongola Decimo. And if you're worried about your virginity, I can tell you that I have no interest in _boys_." The statement brought a deep blush to the teenager's cheeks, and Daemon was forced to think over his words- if only for a split second. But, honestly, what was he supposed to do with someone who probably didn't even know how sex was supposed to work between a guy and a girl, let alone two guys. Daemon let out a low whistle. Yeah. Someone needed to give this kid sex ed, and he sure didn't want to be the one to taint this boy. At least, not yet-

"I swear to God, Daemon, if you fuck Primo's grandkid or whatever I'll blow whatever's left in that rotting piece of shit you call a skull." An irritatingly familiar voice muttered, and Daemon turned to lock gazes with an all-too-friendly redhaired man. A wrinkled white shirt was donned upon his wide shoulders, and a loose green tie hung at his chest. A tattoo ran up the side of his face, and a dangerous-looking gun hung in a holster attached to his belt. His expression was one of disdain and annoyance, which reminded Tsuna of Gokudera in only too many ways, but much friendlier. Erm, perhaps friendly was the wrong word, with the way G was looking at if G kept it up Daemon would make another one of his illusions, just for fun. Tsuna only stared at the redhead (craning his neck to do so, as there was a good foot or so of height difference between G and the unfortunate Vongola Decimo) with bottom jaw loose and hanging.

"Gokudera? What happened to your-"

"Heh. I'm not _your _dirtmouthed guardian, Decimo." G chuckled, and ruffled Tsuna's hair playfully. Warmth dispelled some of the fear and the creeping crawling feeling of violation from him temporarily.

"Nufufu... I did not realize that you had the ability to overcome _my_ powers, now, G." Daemon's voice slipped into an on edge, more dangerous tone. "What are you doing here?"

"What I should be doing. Thank God Giotto took a break and got out, or I wouldn't have figured out that loophole." G's expression seemed to draw power from Daemon's, as the latter's face fell in dismay. Damned redhead. Next time he'd fill in that loophole for sure. If he could. If his current guardian could at least pay attention to the precious advice he was giving all the du-da-day, that was, instead of going around and doing stupid things. Well, maybe less stupid and more _unnecessary_ was the word. He had lost contact of the man completely a while back, and honestly, Daemon didn't give a damn.

As long as that freak of a boss he had didn't bug him about it, anyway.

"So he hasn't done anything funny to you, has he?" G asked, attention turning back to Tsuna, who looked confused for a moment before shaking his head.

"I-I'm fine." Well, perhaps not really fine, seeing as how he was having another strange hallucination. Only this time, the blonde Don Primo wasn't around, and the ebbing darkness around him seemed to enclose him with a viciousness that hadn't been there before. "But is it true? That Primo-"

"Is doing something stupid? Why, yes." Daemon interjected, a pompous smile flashing on his face as dark teal strands brushed by his face. G shot a warning look over at the rebellious mist guardian, which Daemon happily ignored. "You've got to be the worst mistake he's ever made." The words sent a numb sensation through Tsuna. A _mistake_? Primo's actions had consequences, clearly- consequences that explained that arrogant smirk on Daemon's lips. And now Tsuna could feel the reality of what was going on sink in. He was here, in this "space" with two of Primo's guardians, it seemed. Primo was nowhere to be seen, which only confirmed Daemon's words. If Primo was indeed in control of his body... what was left would crumble away.

G placed a hand on Tsuna's shoulder and glowered at Daemon. "You have no right to be talking about the boss like that, asshole." Tsuna looked up from his thoughts to see an unreadable expression on G's face. Daemon had a wry smile on his face, hands crossed but in a stiff, forced posture. "I assumed that you two had talked."

Daemon waved G's words away, chuckling softly. "Doesn't matter." Dark irises wandered to Tsuna again, and once again the brunette felt the older man's gaze burn through him. The sensation of G's hand on his shoulder somehow held him in place from the intriging darkness that laid behind those eyes, and Daemon's lips pressed into a thin line. "Is something amiss, Vongola Decimo?"

"No... w-well..." Tsuna's voice wavered before he willed it to stabilize again. "Primo-san. Is he going to be alright?"

G smiled at Tsuna and pulled him closer (and further from Daemon). "He'll be fine. He's the best boss the Vongola has had by far, after all. So until it's over... you'll be right here." Here, trapped between two dead men and an all-consuming darkness. Tsuna had never felt more at ease.

- x -

Drowning. Dying. He could feel the blood seeping out of him, like the last of the ketchup from the bottle. Whatever the hell was left of him, at least. His knuckles were a pale, ghastly white from gripping onto his trident, fingers slick with his own blood and hair drenched in the sticky mess. His lungs strained to push the air through his body, and the sound of his heartbeat pounded through his ears. A shaky breath escaped him, and then a hand, warm and deadly, grasped his jaw. It hurt. It hurt to move, it hurt to think, it hurt to breathe.

It hurt to live.

Irises focused on a smug smile that possessed the pair of surprisingly delicate-looking lips. Sly white bangs brushed against pale white skin and eyes that sapped from Mukuro the last of his strength mocked at him with a deadly gaze. Ice-cold hands gripped him, and his trident slipped from his fingers before falling to the floor with a metallic clatter. "Do you still remember that confident look you had when I saw through you?" Poison seeped through his ears, numbing him and sending a shock wave of alarm down his back. Teeth cut into his bottom lip to restrain the pained gasp from leaving him as those strong fingers gripped at his wounds, tracing severed skin and muscle. "No?" A sickly sweet breath tickled his face, and scattered red appeared in his vision. _Shit, shit._ He wasn't about to fall this low, was he? _Shit._ If he'd listened to Nagi for once. If he'd listened to that now-mysterious form of a man called Sawada Tsunayoshi. If he hadn't been blinded the way he was, he wouldn't be blind the way he was now. It was too late, perhaps. _Next time._ He'd have another chance, in another lifetime. It wouldn't be that bad.

_"But what about this lifetime?" The stray indigo bangs that obscured his vision were brushed aside by a warm hand, and a large violet gaze seared into him, pulling him into silence. The question hung between them, an obstacle to overcome. There was a barely audible sigh, and she broke the gaze, face burying into his chest. Arms enclosed the slight, less-than healthy feminine figure, and the scent of lavender lulled his nostrils. "It just seems," she mumbled, "as if you don't care." _

_A blink. "But I do, Nagi." He was confused. Of course he cared. What did he do that made her think otherwise? Everything- nearly everything- he'd accomplished and chose was with her in mind, if not entirely then partially, at least. _

_"I know." The timeless, tiresome reply. "But life is... life is worth something, you know." _

_Puzzlement brewed in him. "I've always valued you." _

_There was a shuffling movement that he interpreted as a shaking of her head. "But your life is valued too. Don't throw it away." _

_"Kufufu." An amused chuckle rang out. "My life isn't tissue paper, Nagi. You worry too much." _

Yeah, he'd been right, hadn't he? His life wasn't tissue paper. It was worth less- toilet paper. And with the life draining from him, drawn from him by the Antichrist that resided within the white-haired bastard, it was about to go. Slick fingers, not his own, slipped between his fingers, tracing the metal rings there with a parasitic touch. "One, two... and three. You've been a bad boy, Vongola Mist."

Anger boiled in him. "I will... n-not be associ-"

"You're hardly in a shape to complain." Smooth words cut off his choked words effortlessly, and Mukuro could feel those monstrous fingers working to twist one of the rings from his finger. _No._ Warnings, protests, and struggles resurfaced. An ill-balanced retraction of his arm jerked the rings out of his reach. "Funny." A hand with more strength that its slender looks suggested gripped his wrists, pulling them over his head. "It's a good thing you've been bad. Now... I plan to use you to the fullest extent."


End file.
